Ship of the Year Elektra – Powered by 1040 kWh of PBES Battery Power

The Finferries hybrid ferry Elektra won the international Ship of the Year Award at the marine industry’s Sulphur Cap 2020 Conference in Amsterdam. It is an esteemed, annually given accolade determined by a nomination from a judging panel of international experts and then open voting on the Sulphur Cap 2020 Conference website.

There were three vessels nominated by the judging panel this year. They represented the best of the field in utilising eco-friendly technology in a newbuilding: Elektra, the electric ferry from Finferries, Cardissa from Shell that utilises LNG and Christophe de Margerie from Sovcomflot that also runs on LNG. The winner’s announcement was the finale that ended the night of the Sulphur Cap 2020 gala dinner on 17th of April 2018.

“We were very proud that Elektra was even chosen as one of the three best. Just being nominated proved to us that our innovative and functioning eco-solutions have been widely acclaimed at the international level. It is a true honour for a shipping company the size of Finferries to be put into the same group with larger, multinational actors, and so winning was a wonderful surprise,” exclaimed Finferries CEO Mats Rosin, after the awards had been given out. The focus of Rosin’s thank you speech was on the importance of collaborative partners.

“Elektra, however, is a result of fantastic collaboration. Many different actors have contributed to the work of building the most eco-friendly ferry in Finland. I would like to thank the behind-the-scenes team of this very special vessel: the Turku-based company Deltamarin Ltd came up with the concept and the Polish company StoGda did the design. The CRIST S.A. shipyard took care of building the vessel. Siemens in Trondheim developed the new technology and PBS manufactured the batteries. Cavotec delivered the charging system. I would also like to give a whole-hearted thank you to our commissioners: the Finnish Transport Agency and the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of Southwest Finland. These two organisations believed in the vision of the possibilities of new technology. A special thank you goes out to the Finferries project manager and the entire supervisory team. They put a huge effort into the new vessel,” Rosin’s speech expressed.

PBES is proud to congratulate FinFerries on their win at Electric and Hybrid Marine World Expo for Propulsion System of the Year. Elektra, Finland’s first purpose built battery electric ferry, operates on a 1MWh battery system supplied by PBES. Launched in June of 2017, the vessel celebrates 1 year of service this month.

“We feel very proud to have had a hand in Elektra’s win,” said Grant Brown, Vice President Marketing at PBES. “Many of the unique characteristics of her performance are directly a result of the PBES technology onboard. CellCoolTM technology allows the battery to be recharged in 5 minutes and at end of life it is easily refurbished and upgraded using the PBES CellSwapTM system.”

Elektra has an overall length of 98m, beam of 15m and draft of 3.55m, with five lanes to accommodate up to 90 cars. She travels her 1.6 km route across the Finnish Archipelago year round. Due to heavy ice conditions in the winter months, she carries auxiliary power generation equipment to augment the battery when needed.

The PBES energy storage system has been engineered to the highest standards of performance and safety and is designed to seamlessly integrate with the electrical infrastructure on the vessel.

Machine chief Ronny Kandal does not have much oil in either hair or hands. “There is actually more to do on board here than on a diesel ferry, but there are a few other tasks. And then it’s quieter and cleaner, “he said pleased. He does not long for noise and diesel, though diesel is also on Eidsfjord and Gloppefjord. Both have Scania engines that run on biodiesel as backup

On the bridge to MF Gloppefjord, Captain Ole Kristian Hauge and Øystein Vereide, as usual captain, are also present, but today the deputy chieftain. They are delighted with the battery power. Fjord 1 was awarded the contract for operation of the two ferry connections from 1 January 2018.

According to the contract with the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Fjord 1 chose to build one electric and a low-emission ferry, but went in to build both ferries with high battery capacity for several hours of operation without charging.

Bio-backup

Fjord 1 ordered two steel ferries from Tersan in Turkey in April 2016. They are designed by Multi Maritime and can accommodate 120 passenger cars, 12 lorries and 349 people.

Each of them is equipped with two battery packs of 540 kWh from Canadian-Norwegian PBES. In addition, the ferges have backup generators from Nogva with Scania engines, built for biodiesel.

Hard load

6-7-minute charge with up to 1500 kW charge power on Anda. Transfers take 11 minutes.

The charge power is switched off as battery capacity is reached. The Siemens power management system and PBES battery management ensure that batteries do not charge too fast and damage the batteries.

PBES is proud to acknowledge the first year of operation of the hybrid ferries Melshorn and Vardehorn. The two sister ships were built in 1999. In late autumn 2016 they were rebuilt with hybrid propulsion using PBES energy storage at Havyard yard (Sogn og Fjordane). The two vessels re-entered service in January 2017.

“Melshorn and Vardehorn provide an important role in Norway’s transition to clean transportation,” said Grant Brown, Vice President Marketing at PBES. “They prove that commercial transportation need not be dirty and inefficient. Energy storage is an important part of this transition and PBES is proud to be providing the best quality, Norwegian built energy storage in the industry.”

MF Valderhorn

The low-emissions ferries are part of the ongoing push for zero to low emission public transportation in Norway. Each 102m vessel can carry 120 automobiles and 350 passengers. The Melshorn operates onthe 25-minute crossing on E6, Bogenes to Skarberget and Vardehorn runs the 45-minute crossing R827, Drag to Kjøpsvik. Each vessel contains 520kWh of PBES Power 65 batteries providing 1000V to the DC bus.

In 2017 PBES installed more than 15MWh of energy storage to marine markets around the world, making it the leader in delivered product in the industry. The PBES energy storage system has been engineered to the highest standards of performance and safety and is designed to seamlessly integrate with electrical infrastructure on any vessel.

PBES is proud to announce the successful installation of two 1MWh battery systems aboard the new electric ferries that service the E39 highway route on the 2km crossing between the Anda and Lote docks. The M/F Gloppefjord and Eidsfjord are Norway’s latest battery-operated ferries.

“Anda-Lote is a vital link for Western Norway,” said Grant Brown, Vice President Marketing at PBES. “We are extremely happy to have been chosen to supply powerful and reliable PBES batteries for these innovative vessels. PBES remains committed to providing the best quality, Norwegian built energy storage for the ferry industry.”

The zero-emissions ferries are part of the ongoing push for zero and low emission public transportation in Norway. Each 106m vessel can carry 120 automobiles and 349 passengers on the 8-minute crossing.

In 2017 PBES installed more than 15MWh of energy storage to marine markets around the world, making it the leader in delivered product in the industry. The PBES energy storage system has been engineered to the highest standards of performance and safety and is designed to seamlessly integrate with the electrical infrastructure on the vessel.

Excerpts from Stevie Knights articles published in Maritime Journal. Links to original article here.

New tech comes with a price, but there’s a lot resting on it – all the more so when it concerns a commercial, battery-driven ro-ro that promises to clean up the market in more ways than one.

The power for Finland’s new battery ro-ro, Elektra is the 1MW PBES energy storage system, split into two banks, powering a pair of 900kW, Z-drive, azimuthing thrusters from Rolls-Royce: “These mean Elektra can actually move sideways, so it’s easy to manoeuvre,” said Mats Rosin, FinFerries’ CEO. The 97.92m Elektra needs to be a 24/7 workhorse as it’s expected to run four times an hour during peak hours and once an hour overnight. The 1.6km ‘gateway’ between Parainen and Nauvo has between 600,000 and 800,000 vehicles crossing a year including heavy goods trucks but a sharp summer spike means over 100,000 vehicles in July alone.

There are recharging points at both the Parainen and Nauvo turnarounds; a Cavotec vacuum mooring system and recharging tower combo holds Elektra in place while allowing a plug to descend from above to mate with Elektra. The 20kV of power is delivered to a transformer some 150m from the charging tower which reduces it to 690V AC for transfer to the ship. The grid had been recently strengthened nearby, and so it was able to deliver the necessary charge.

The 160 6.5kWh PBES Power batteries have been lined up for an installed total of 1,040kWh at 1,000V on the DC bus. Elektrauses roughly 125kWh from shore every 30 minutes. However, the batteries could absorb power at quite a rate as the banks can comfortably charge at 3C, so they could, theoretically, fully charge from empty in 20 minutes. This is partly because the batteries are liquid cooled; after all, putting a bolt of energy through even capacious batteries can shorten the cell’s lifetime.

It’s not seawater from outside but rather a closed loop of tightly temperature-controlled tap water (the region’s domestic supply being incredibly pure and uncontaminated).

More, as depth of discharge also affects the cells’ lifetime, these too are being rigorously bracketed, with the top rising to no more than 80% and the bottom sinking no lower than 60% of the total capacity. Of course, Siemens’ will be watching, monitoring all this and more via a Cloud link.

It’s nice that while Siemens ties battery information together on the touchscreens mounted in both the bridge and power control room, PBES has also installed easy-to-read data displays on each case, showing heat, loading rate, state of charge, state of health and so on, not just for that battery alone but for the whole bank.

The new ro-ro also is fairly comfortable to operate, just as well since the shifts are 12 hours long, with just a captain, engineer and deckhand onboard. It’s quiet: even in the so-called ‘engine room’, there’s normally no need to raise your voice, the only residual vibration comes from the 900kW Rolls-Royce Z-drive thrusters although there are three auxiliary gensets for redundant power for charging failures or ice conditions.

Despite the investment, pegged at around 20mEuro for the total project including infrastructure, Elektra’s very cheap to run – based on Ampere’s figures it probably costs no more than a handful of Euros for each recharge. The most important thing about ‘Elektra’, Finland’s new, double-ended ferry is that it paves the way for a new breed of vessel.

Winter in Finland won’t stop Elektra from meeting her mission

PBES is proud to announce the contract, supply, and installation of the 1MWh battery on Elektra. Launched in June of 2017, the vessel celebrates 6 months of service and is Finland’s first purpose built battery electric ferry.

“PBES energy storage provides Elektra with clean, quiet, fossil free power,” said Grant Brown, Vice President Marketing at PBES. “Due to patented CellCoolTM technology the battery may be recharged in 5 minutes and at end of life it may be refurbished and upgraded to reduce electronic waste using PBES CellSwapTM.”

Elektra has an overall length of 98m, beam of 15m and draft of 3.55m, with five lanes to accommodate up to 90 cars. She travels her 1.6 km route across the Finnish archipelago year round. Due to heavy ice conditions in the winter months, she carries auxiliary power generation equipment to augment the battery when needed.

In 2017 PBES installed more than 15MWh of energy storage to marine markets around the world, making it the leader in delivered product in the industry. The PBES energy storage system has been engineered to the highest standards of performance and safety and is designed to seamlessly integrate with the electrical infrastructure on the vessel.

PBES keynote presentation at Interferry 2017

The maritime industry has long been the elephant in the room when global fossil fuel emissions are evaluated. How do we reconcile the enormous cost to our world of continued unabated use of fossil fuels to power our fleet of commercial vessels? These vessels are vital to our economy, transporting people and goods across the oceans to reach markets. Until recently, the commercial fleet has been unrestricted due to their importance to trade.

Soren Danig, VP Business Solutions in Denmark, recently delivered a keynote at the annual Interferry conference in Split, Croatia about the industrial evolution of zero emission ships of today.

Bringing the electric revolution to the seas has reduced emissions but also proven to be financially profitable to ship owners. The use of energy storage to provide power for emission free operation is here today. Using this industrial evolution of propulsion, the marine industry is able to lower operational costs and provide meaningful return on investment all while doing its part in the fight against climate change.

Now more then ever it is apparent that the marine industry must act on climate change. Recent global climate events underscore the need to shift away from traditional fossil fuel as a power source. New national and international regulations are forcing operators, owners and shipbuilders to look at alternate sources of propulsion energy, the most effective of which is energy storage in the form of lithium batteries used to hybridize and fully electrify ships.

Watch the full presentation below, and visit the Interferry conference website to watch all the video presentations here.

Two massive ferries are about to become the biggest all-electric ships in the world

Article published by Fred Lambert, Published by Electrek on Aug. 24th 2017. Read the full article on electrek.com

Over the last year, ABB has been converting two of Sweden’s HH Ferries Group’s massive ferries from diesel engines to being completely battery-powered.

Now the ships are reportedly close to launching, which would likely make them the biggest all-electric ships in the world.

As we have often discussed in the past, all modes of transportation are gradually being converted to electric propulsion and that includes maritime transport.

Ferries are a perfect place to start since they often travel only short distances and stay for relatively long periods of time at the same ports, where they can be charged.

The HH Ferries Group’s two ferries, the Tycho Brahe and the Aurora, operate a 4-km (2.5 miles) ferry route between Helsingborg (Sweden) and Helsingör (Denmark). Therefore, the route that they are converting to all-electric transport is not exactly impressive, but the actual ships themselves are something.

They are 238 meters long (780 ft) and weight 8,414 tonnes. They carry 7.4 million passengers and 1.9 million vehicles annually.

Those are incredibly large machines to power with electricity, but it’s worth it economically for the savings on diesel and environmentally to slash local emissions. They are already similar ferry routes going electric, but nothing of this magnitude in term of size.

ABB already started installing the more than 4 MWh of battery packs inside each ship:

“640 batteries of 6.5 kWh are installed on top of each ferry along with two deckhouses for transformers, converters and cooling of the batteries. Cables run from the deckhouses to connecting points at each end of the ship, so that the batteries can be quick-charged – to provide the power of 70 electric cars.”

The Tycho Brahe is reportedly ready and it was supposed to start operation last month, according to HH Ferries Group’ website, but they had to postpone the launch because the charging systems at the docks are not ready.

ABB has been installing giant robotic arms at the docks to operate the charger.

Trondheim, Norway – October 4, 2016 – Plan B Energy Storage (PBES) today announced the energy storage supply contract for the two largest battery-­‐powered ferries in the world. Each of the two Scandlines Helsingborg-­‐Helsingör ferries will have 4.16 MWh batteries to provide power for primary propulsion.

The fully electric ferries will carry their part of more than 7.4 million passengers and 1.9 million vehicles annually with zero emissions. INEA, the EU’s executive agency for innovation and network, supports the SEK 300 million project with SEK 120 million.

The energy storage system, designed by PBES with a proprietary liquid cooling system that provides a higher level of safety to marine customers, is part of ABB´s modernization package, which also includes energy storage control system and Onboard DC Grid technology. The thermal management system constantly maintains optimal internal temperatures to maximize lifespan of the battery.